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Tampa Property Management

Frustrated because your Property is sitting VACANT -- for months -- and your Tampa Property Manager has no answers?

Being overcharged by Handymen, Plumbers, and Electricians?

Sick and Tired of Dealing with Tenants?

As a rental property owner aren't the above three questions your major source of aggravation and lost income?

Typically, it takes us 2 to 4 weeks to rent your house or condo to a fully qualified tenant. If a property does not rent in one month there is a problem. I have never found an exception. Stress Free Property Management answers all 3 questions in a surprising manner just below...

(7 Critical Mistakes Tampa Property Management Owners Sometimes Make)

(5 Little Known Benefits to You of our In-House Maintenance Staff)

7 Critical Mistakes Tampa Rental Property Owners Make: How Many of Them Are You Making Right Now?

Gone are the “good-old days”… of just throwing out a rental sign in the yard, on Wednesday, and the home would be rented by the end of the weekend. There is just too much competition out there, at the moment.

There is no way anyone can successfully manage properties -- especially a large volume of properties -- unless they have a proven system for finding quality tenants quickly. My business partner and I have spent the last 12 years creating, testing, and refining our marketing system. We call it our “Instant Tenant Attraction.” I know that sounds a little "hokey" but we have to call it something memorable, and it generates 5 to 7 times the amount of tenant calls as the traditional rental signs on the property and ad in the newspaper.

Let me discuss a few of them now, but keep in mind, all these methods are trade secrets that my competitors would love to learn. Therefore, I obviously can’t reveal all my strategies so I will only highlight a couple of them.

We generate 532% more responses than a newspaper ad using a little known but highly effective website for advertising rentals. I know this sounds unbelievable, but we have tested this over and over again, with the same results. Nowadays, tenants simply prefer looking for rentals online, rather than the newspaper (as evidenced by many newspapers, around the country, struggling or going broke recently).

A rapid process for qualifying good tenants, and getting them to put down a deposit on your rental, quickly. Most managers take 3 or 4 days to approve a rental application. By that time, the tenant has often found something else.

Now this is not to say that we aren’t being picky, WE ARE. For example, we have found that about 30% of tenants are lying (a little or a lot) on their rental applications. They might use their friends as their landlord or employer, give a false social security number, or are currently under eviction at their present address. There are dozens of scams that horrible tenants use to try and slip under the radar, and move into your home.

However, the reason we focus on completing the background checks for a possible new tenant -- within 24 business hours -- is extremely important. When you think about it, the tenant is still out there… looking at other properties. IF he or she appears to be a quality tenant, we want them off the market by signing your lease, sooner rather than later.

At last count, we had over 17 different methods for attracting quality tenants. This stuff took years of testing and refining all sorts of ideas, to find the ones that actually work.

If you have owned your property awhile, I am sure you remember the annoyance of being over charged by one of these guys.

For example, your Plumber shows up to fix your leaking toilet, charges you $75 to drive out, $85 to fix the toilet, and $35 in parts for stuff that costs $8 at Home Depot. OR…

Your AC repairman comes out to fix your system. And after just 20 minutes of looking over your AC unit, he tells you it can’t be fixed, and you need a brand new system. You’re left wondering if he is really looking out for your best interest… or his own.

Does any of this sound familiar? After a couple of years of experiencing this type of service, I decided to do something about it. We created…

Our own 24/7 Zero Overhead Repair Service

We went searching for and found electricians, plumbers, and AC repairmen that are 1 or 2 person businesses. They are licensed and insured and operate out of their work trucks. There is no office space, fancy trucks, expensive advertising, or employees, so their over-head is next to nothing.

These guys constantly suffer from inconsistent business: a typical “feast or famine” cycle. So when they find us, we give them steady work which smoothes out that annoying problem. In other words, we can instantly fill 50%-75% of their time, and they never have to spend any advertising dollars to keep this business. We simply insist they do quality work, and our clients receive discounted rates.

For example a typical electrician might charge you $125 an hour, $75 trip charge, and a 300% markup on parts. On the other hand, our electrician charges us $60 an hour including the time it takes to drive to your property and zero mark-up on parts. He comes out ahead because he is NOT just fixing your house that day. We have also given him one or two other electrical jobs at other properties.

Keep in mind, the electrician we hired spent no money on advertising, office rent, receptionist, or any of the other significant costs. Therefore, he is earning more “take home” money compared to the electrician working at a large electrical company, with far less headaches. Can you see how this would work for him (and you), in a positive way? The net result is:

Your Cost To Repair Electrical, AC, Or Plumbing Issues Is At Least 50% Less Than You Will Pay Working With Other Tampa Property Managers

Our ballpark estimate of what our typical clients saves in repair costs is $875 a year per property.

More importantly, you typically don’t need to hire an electrician, plumber, or a contractor for minor repairs. A well trained, responsible handyman can easily handle 80% of repairs that typically come up. Our company actually has 4 of these handymen on our payroll. You end up saving even MORE money on these types of repairs.

For example, any handyman (worth is salt) knows how to quickly repair broken or leaking toilets and sinks. You don’t have to hire a plumber for that kind of stuff. If you do, it is simply an overkill and much more expensive. It’s like visiting the emergency room for a migraine headache and getting a prescription. The visit would probably cost you around $700 while your neighborhood walk- in clinic could provide the same thing for $75.

Obviously, any type of serious repairs will be handled by our licensed and insured plumber, AC tech, electrician, or contractor. But, the fact of the manner is that most repairs are minor and do not fall in that category.

Be leery of any property management company that just hires repairmen from large companies driving fancy trucks. You end up “paying through the nose.” The property manager is paying top dollar to companies with huge amounts of overhead.

Not to mention, these repairs are being completed by an over qualified technician, which (more often than not) could be repaired by a competent handyman, at a fraction of the cost.

Costly Mistake # 3 - "Allowing a Property to Sit Vacant For Months at a Time"

Allowing a property to sit vacant for 3, 5, or even 7 months, hoping for a good tenant to come along.

Let me assure you about one thing when it comes to finding a good tenant:

Hope…Is Not A Good Business Strategy!

I see this mistake all the time. So let me give you my “cardinal rule” for property management:

IF your property is sitting vacant for more than a month, there is at least one thing WRONG that must be fixed, and I have NEVER found an exception. And YES, this is true even in today’s economy.

The first and most common issue is the rent is just too high and has to come down a bit. Right now, the rental market is very good. You can ask for higher rents than in the past. However, tenants are still checking to make sure the rental rate is reasonable to similar properties in the neighborhood

An honest, No B.S. Assessment Of Market Rent - In other words, how much can you realistically rent your home for in the next 30 days? And by the way, you should be willing to drop the rent a bit below that price (if necessary) to start getting cash flow rolling in.

Without question, in this economy, renters will negotiate rent. And the reality is, the property owner who is flexible will get the best tenants for the longest amount of time.

Look, I know this is not a popular topic to discuss. After all, who likes to talk about getting less money? However, I’d rather have you know this up front rather than after your property has been sitting vacant for six months, because the rent is too high.

I’ve routinely seen rental homes sit vacant for being just $50 a month more than the going rate for similar homes in the neighborhood. So it’s extremely important you get this right.

The second common issue is something goes wrong inside your rental, after it was painted and cleaned. For example, we sometimes have unusual paint colors in certain bedrooms. The owner wanted us to try and rent the home as is and the paint looked fine. The trouble is that most of the people looking do not like the color scheme. Maybe it just doesn't match their furniture, who knows, but feedback is poor.

Or sometimes, bugs will suddenly show up. Not to be gross but a few dead roaches on the floor will scare away just about anyone. Other times, the roof, toilet, or sink might suddenly start leaking, and anyone who visits starts wondering what else might be wrong with the home. So, they pass on your rental property because they think if the owner missed these “obvious” repairs, it is just the tip of the iceberg. In their mind, there is probably a hell of a lot MORE things wrong, they can’t see.

The key is to get feedback from tenants after they look at your rental, so you can spot this stuff early and fix it. We are constantly quizzing tenants who visit one of your properties to find out why they didn’t rent. Based on their feedback, we make any necessary repairs to your rental, immediately. For example, the carpets may need to be steam cleaned again, because some stains showed back up, or the maid needs to clean the bathroom again, because she forgot to wash down the tub. You get the idea.

Although this may sound very simple, this is extremely uncommon in the property management industry. Most property managers don’t own rental properties of their own, and therefore, haven’t had the painful experience of their own rental property sitting vacant because of one of these issues.

Regardless of the reasons, we have learned (the hard way) that well over 65% of all tenants who look at a typical rental property, are turned-off, instantly. They are turned off because either the rent is too high in comparison to similar properties in the neighborhood, or one or more things are wrong inside the home, like bugs or leaks. Think about it, haven’t you experienced the same negative first impression, looking at places to rent when you were younger?

We have learned to carefully and objectively research the real world, rental rates of properties we manage for our clients. We check online and in newspapers to see what properties are currently available for rent, in a specific neighborhood or zip code.

Our goal is to find 4 or 5 similar properties so we are comparing apples to apples. If you price your rental $75 above what other similar properties in the neighborhood are priced at, it will sit vacant… a long time.

Is it a bit more complicated than this? No, not really... However there are a large number of things inside your rental that need to be checked carefully so tenants are not turned off.

We also carefully inspect your home with our unique 67 point “Ready to Rent” Checklist.

This checklist was developed from years of trying to figure out why certain homes rent quickly and others do not.

My inspection staff checks everything, from ensuring the closet doors are hung properly in the bedrooms, to looking under the sink for any water leaks. It is vital we are thorough, because each of these 67 areas will either offer a positive or negative impression to tenants.

My operating philosophy is if my mom wouldn’t be 100% satisfied with the cleanliness and condition then the rental is not ready to rent.

However, the average property manager or landlord often just does the minimum to get a house ready for rent. This is a mistake and results in the property sitting vacant for months, and eventually, renting to a lower quality tenant, who typically pays the rent late and doesn’t take care of the home.

Just to recap, any property owner that uses our management services receive the following:

67 point “Ready to Rent Checklist” - This will ensure the property is properly cleaned, painted, and all necessary repairs are completed PRIOR to putting the property on the market for rent. As I mentioned before, this is the number one reason why properties sit vacant for 3 to 7 months, instead of 30 days.($764 Average Savings By Renting Your Home Faster)

“11 Hour Straight Talk” – My trained leasing staff answers calls from prospective tenants from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday-Friday. They even answer the majority of phone calls from 11:00am-7:00pm on the weekends.($575 Average Savings By Getting A Qualified Tenant Out To See Your Home Quickly)

24/7 Zero Overhead Repair Service – 80% of repairs that may arise will be handled by 1 of our 4 well trained handyman at a fraction of the cost of hiring your typical repairmen out of the yellow pages or newspaper. When we need to hire a licensed electrician, plumber, or AC tech, we have already negotiated extremely low rates by finding the folks with no overhead, and giving them a ton of repeat business.($875 Average Repair Savings, Annually on Each Property)

“Instant Tenant Attraction” System – Developed after 12 years 2,138 + tenants. This advertising system generates 5 to 7 times the amount of tenant calls, compared to traditional rental signs and ads in the newspaper. Even better, you don’t pay an extra dime for all the extra advertising we perform to find you a good tenant. ($550 Average Savings By Getting A Quality Tenant Much Faster)

No Unnecessary Fees – you DO NOT pay an advertising or set-up/processing fee. You don’t (in fact) pay us anything up front. We get paid only after we find you a good tenant and collect the first month’s rent from them. “Paid for Performance” is the way it should be.($300-$800 Value Compared To Our Competitors)

Free Rental Analysis Request – one of the first things we do for you is a comprehensive rental analysis. You'll receive not only the rental range we recommend but a list of comparable properties in your neighborhood that have recently rented or are currently on the market. You'll also see pictures of these "comps" along with sq footage and all the features of the home. This way you can see how we arrived at our rental recommendation and double-check we didn't miss anything.($50 Value but extremely helpful)

These 5 different programs and guarantees are provided to all of our property management clients. You can’t find a SINGLE competitor offering this level of service or guarantee, anywhere in the Tampa Bay area.

If these are the kinds of control you want to have in place…if you want a property manager to take charge and get the job done, then the next step is to see if the properties you own are a fit for us. The most effective and efficient way we found is to fill out our Property Owner Inquiry Form.

“Instant Tenant Attraction” System

Tampa Demographics (Not in letter mentioned above - just interesting)

Today, Tampa is part of the metropolitan area most commonly referred to as the "Tampa Bay Area". For U.S. Census purposes, Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The four-county area is composed of roughly 3.1 million residents,[4] making it the second largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States, behind Washington, D.C.; Miami; and Atlanta.[12] The Greater Tampa Bay area, has over 4 million residents and generally includes the Tampa and Sarasota metro areas. The city had a population of 335,709 at the 2010 census,[5] and an estimated population of 392,890 in 2018.[13] As of 2018, Tampa's annual growth rate is 1.63%.[14]